Over 50,000 heat deaths in European cities this summer
New research published in Nature Health estimates that over 50,000 premature deaths in European cities this summer were linked to extreme heat. Scientists attribute nearly two-thirds of these fatalities directly to human-induced climate change.
Why it matters
The data provides a quantitative link between climate change and public health crises, underscoring the urgency of climate mitigation policies.
Scientists estimate that over 50,000 people died prematurely because of high temperatures across 854 European cities between June and August this year, making it Europe's deadliest summer heat on record.
Almost two-thirds of those deaths are attributed specifically to climate change, primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
The number of people who died was almost double that of last year and more than 70% higher than the death tolls during the European heatwaves of 2003 and 2022.
The research, published in two peer-reviewed papers in the journal Nature Health, was undertaken by scientists at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
It examined urban areas across 30 European countries, representing a combined population of almost 173 million people, or approximately 40% of the population of the EU27, the UK, Norway and Switzerland.
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